Hello everyone,

wow, some great builds finishing up here. As I said earlier, I am super impressed and have learned a lot from you all.

Ron-thanks for your comments and advice. I love your figures, especially the complex undertones and dynamic drybrushing. Did you apply your Mig pigments to the figures? Nice ammo boxes also. The detailing on the rifle and helmet are also amazing.

Tom- thanks for your kind words also. Seriously, coming from this crowd any time anyone has anything to say I always run and tell my girlfriend. So I appreciate it. Yeah, I really wanted to capture the feel of battle torn Central Europe, especially as in this battle fierce fighting was raged back and forth many times (including during WWI if I am not mistaken). So as I planned this I tried to think about that and I hope you see this coming out when I place the troops later today or tomorrow. Think: captured Germans who are then liberated when the Germans overtake the house- which is sort of where we will be in the action here in a bit.

But I just wanted to say that my most of my personal memories of Europe come from the year I spent in Sevilla, Spain. I have very vivid memories of the my street in the Arenal district. You could see 1000s of years of history- decay and rebuild in every corner and street. When I travelled in Central Europe I also notice something similar, but darker and more goth is seemed (especially in Praga for example). Berlin also struck me as particularly stark in the way the the buildings are still in ruins in some places.

Andrzej made the point about the planned chaos. I would just say that since I did plan for the deadline to approach the one thing I have done is to add the bits and pieces slowly over time, not gluing into place until it looks right. Also, I am using Elmer's glue to lightly glue my bits in. That way I can bathe them in a little H20 if I ever need to remove them. So I think my dio is coming along well especially as I add the last bits, figures, and vehicles once again and post my final shoots later today and tomorrow. I am going for it!!!

So here goes my progress. I have more progress in terms of the roofing (my lil surprise for you) but have to process these photos first and then reshoot.

Roofing first. These were from over the weekend so a bit of lag here in terms of where I am actually at now.

I like the way it actually came out crooked. But hey, it is the "Bitter taste of Defeat". Notice the broken piece. As for the cork-so far two votes against (*that is Ron and my gf) but I hold fast for the moment. I think of it as a 'quick fix solution' but my plan is to do something more in line with the rest of the construction.









On to the overall effect. In the last series I concentrated on the view from the front, where the Bantam goes. I had a change of plans. I was going to use the Kuppelwagon in a different dio, but found it fit nicely here.

As for the Kuppelwagon. Decals went on on Sunday and another layer of Dullcote yesterday, so I am good to go for weathering and a little more detailing where needed. As for the livery... another surprise awaits....

This is was a fun little build. My only self criticism is that the camo came out a little dark, but I like it too much to mess it up. I am hoping a little weathering and modulation will tone it down a bit.









and finally on to some of of the 'bits'.

Andrzej your advice and expertise with 'rust' effects has been very educational for me and the others I am sure. I hope this passes your 'inspection' LOL. (or maybe it would not...)



Actually these gutters still need detailing. I applied more paint and weathering but need to hollow out or hide the end pieces. I now have two metal sign post things which in this configuration provides a hint of organization.

I suppose that the orange rust on the tailpipe is not quite right, maybe after a couple more layers or grime and weathering it will be better. Mo betta, that is.







Finally looking at those figs again. You can also see my box of additional bits just in case I feel like getting messy. hmmm



CHEERS! and thanks for looking as always.

Guillermo (or Billy)

I forgot to say above- AWESOME job Peter. I like your dio so much. thanks for sharing.

I hate cheerleading, but...

Peter, I'm just speechless! Excellent scene - I forgot I was looking at a model...

Ron, I really love it! I can really feel the action.

And Billy, it'll look great when you've finished that roof. (But I agree with your GF about the cork tile...)

My own humble cobbles pale by comparison...

Tom

Thanks for the good words, everyone !

This was a great idea for a campaign , and I think that it is reflected in all the creative ideas that people have come up with, and in the great quality of the work everyone has submitted.

This is some Good stuff !!

thanks again for coming up with this campaign

Peter

Hi,
@ Billy - it looks great so far! Keep it comming, you still have few hours

Here is my diorama: water is still not 100% transparent but it turns that way and I think that in few days it will be nice and clear (I will post few pictures then as well).
Let me start with "Tunk is bloken" picture (it sure broken now... )
















Andrzej

I finished it late last night and added just a tinge of weathering (Mig Rain Effects) this morning. I have a TON of real life (this isn´t real life?) work to do, and over 40 pictures that I took this morning and this afternoon.

I am going to keep this short and sweet, but if the forum topic stays open, will try to do a more comprehensive WIP progress update...but for now, enough already.

I am posting these pics and then will try to find the Campaign Gallery and post there as well. This has been EPIC!!!















I did leave this open for photographic purposes.



finally, in my last post I promised two surprises. The first was the roof tiles:



This is an in progress shot from last night:



and the second was the livery/markings for the Kuppelwagon. I selected markings for the 697. Pz Propaganda-Kompanie which served in 1943-44 in Russia according to the kit instructions. My idea is that these guys (*hah where are they? hint of a future dio...) came back to Central Europe and were poking around leaving posters. They stopped for repairs and found themselves stuck, so they abandoned their vehicle (or were they captured, why would they leave their guns? So that is my quick backstory to this scene.

Lots of different forces operating in the area. Back and forth fighting. Destruction. The jeep took a hit, the house multiple hits. The MP inside has a couple light wounds which the Sarge is attending to (no medic in this unit). The dudes (Bastogne mostly with some Normandy conversions) have just entered on patrol, they encounter the jeep and the wounded MP and move to secure the area, as well as gathering supplies and ammo from the jeep. Maybe another mine or bured IED (the Germans had those also) buried in the debris? gotta be careful!!!

A close up of the propaganda poster on the Wagon.






CHEERS AND THANKS SO MUCH TO EVERYONE!

Thank you very much for a fun, professional campaign, Andrzej. You have been a great leader.

Billy

(edit: pics have been posted in the gallery. I realized that it is later in the day in Europe, right? Here in Oregon it is still 2:00 pm so I hope I made the deadline!!!

I am such a slacker but I have been thinking about this all day.

What is more important? working on dioramas or reading and reviewing the very hard work of my students? Why is it so hard to decide?

Well I did what I could this afternoon and then around 9 this evening I realized I still had three hours left my time so I went to work again to finish up that roofing.

I now have a finished dio, with 54 minutes and counting PST... so lets get those "Final" pics up for this thing. Then I am going to build some airplanes for a while so see you all 'on the other side" (that is the aeroscale side. heh)

Anywise final shots before I go crazy... I am really happy with this by the way. When my girlie gets home I will have her take a pic with me holding it! my baby!









Two more detail shots from the other side and adios!

I like the moving H20 effect- that is certainly no easy task. But not sure I am a fan of the milky color. Maybe future experimentation you could try a clearer H20 underneath, or build up layers of some sort where you imitate the bubbles in the water?

Maybe we should do a 'H20 effects' campaign next, just to properly figure this out.

"The Bitter Taste of H20"

cheers and thanks so much again, A.

g

@ Billy – don’t mind the milky color of water – it slowly turns transparent so it will be gone eventually… H2O campaign is a great idea but I think we should ask JBA to be leader and mentor of that one…

@ All: CAMPAIGN IS OVER! Thank you very much for participating, thank you for great work! We have very nice dioramas here and I’m happy I could lead this fantastic campaign.
Here is the list of people who received award ribbons:
barkingdigger - Tom
curseoftheundead - Peter Russell
DioRandy - Randy Keho
endrju007 - Andrzej Snigorski
Erwinfoxjj - Jacob Johnson
GregCloseCombat - California Greg
GSPatton - Frank Amato
guille - Billy Cash
Nightstrike - Andy Foster
Red4 - Matthew Quiroz
Suurpealik - Kaspar
tornado64 - Paul James
WARLORD - Marcin Kardaszewski
yeahwiggie - Ron van Wiggen

If I’ve missed anyone – please PM me. If I gave an award to anyone who did not finished diorama for this campaign: shut up and enjoy your ribbon .

Thank you once again for participating!

See you around. A.

Thanks for this great campaign, Andrzej.
It was real fun. Cost me a few hours and a few headaches, but it was worth it!

Andrzej,

Great campaign! It was a lot of fun, and challenging too. (It's good to get out of my modelling comfort zone occasionally!) Thanks for the ribbon, and no doubt see you in the next campaign...

Tom

PS: I like the shot of your little 'un with the diorama - gotta start the modelling habit early!

PPS: Billy, the final result is stunning!